Aimee Anderson- District Six female
The Games were awful, but I loved the Arena. The trees were such a pretty emerald green and there was mist everywhere. It was like a storybook. I had Eleanor with me, so I usually wasn't too scared, and sometimes sponsors sent us stuff. I hoped Toby wasn't too worried.
"I wish we lived in the same District," I said to Eleanor.
"Then we wouldn't have both gotten Reaped," she agreed.
"I meant that we would have been friends sooner, but that's also true," I said. I had lots of friends at home, but it was sad there were so many other girls I'd never meet because we lived apart.
"This isn't as bad as I thought it would be," I said. I didn't mention the Bloodbath, because I didn't like remembering it, but after that it wasn't so bad. I was glad I'd met Eleanor, and I was thankful for all the things I'd gotten to do in the Capitol and the Arena. The Capitolites didn't have to do the Games to keep us from fighting. If they let us into the Capitol, we could all be happy. I wouldn't even hold the Games against them. There was already so much fighting and revenge in Panem's history. I'd let it all go if they'd just share.
The sound of a cannon marked the last three survivors in the Arena. Seven had died in the Bloodbath, and the storm on the eleventh day wiped out another ten of the people who lived that long. The face in the sky that night was Chantal's, meaning Kazuo was the last one with us.
He must have been pretty beat up, because when he came two days later, we heard him. Eleanor pointed him out between two trees, leaning against a trunk and panting. I started to run, but Eleanor didn't follow. She just made two fists.
"What are you doing?" I asked.
"It has to end eventually," she said, and I knew she was right.
Kazuo had his sword, so Eleanor picked up a thick branch. I picked one up too, though I didn't think I could do much. I was a healer, not a fighter. Kazuo reached us quickly. He was tired, but he wasn't done. He swung his sword at Eleanor and would have cut her in half if she hadn't blocked him with her branch. His thin short shuddered against the solid wood and shattered with a metallic ting, one of the flying shards cutting Eleanor's cheek. Kazuo barely paused, turning his strike into an upward stab and sticking the broken sword into Eleanor's shoulder. I swung my branch at him from the side and he deflected it with one arm, shoving me back after. I landed heavily and scrambled toward him as Eleanor pushed the blade out and shoved his arm back so he hit himself in the face. I grabbed Kazuo's foot to trip him. He stumbled but stayed standing. He raised his other foot and canted himself to one side, kicking me in the face so hard I flopped onto my back in a daze. He stomped my stomach, leaving me curled up and gasping for breath.
Eleanor twisted Kazuo's sword from his grasp and stuck it under his ribs. He yanked her closer and grabbed a little knife from his pocket. He bent his arm around her back and stabbed her half a dozen times. She fell to the side, the sword cutting its way out of him and lying in her limp hand. Kazuo crumpled after her and crouched on the ground, shuddering and heaving.
He raised his head and started toward me, crawling painfully with the knife still in his hand. He grabbed my leg and started to haul himself toward my head. Blood streamed from his forehead, leaving him mostly blind. He couldn't see that I was close enough to reach the broken sword. I took it from Eleanor's horribly still hand. As Kazuo half-straightened to stab down at me, I stuck it up through him. Blood dripped onto my face as he slowly slid down the blade.
Eleanor would have wanted me to be happy. I missed her every day, but I knew she was proud of me for coming home. I kept her with me, but I treated the Games as something from the past that didn't need to be part of my life going forward. Toby was overjoyed that I won, and he was even happier when I moved into the house next to his. We had him over so much that he became part of the family, like an uncle. He started to smile more, and then he started to laugh, and he was a normal person again. I still hated the Games, but I was happy I'd gone. It was all worth it for the friends I made.
I always thought of Toby as perpetually mid-50s, but according to 75 Victors he'd have been 29 during Aimee's Games.